Tile block and wall construction



Nov. 5, 1929. H.-L. STRAND TILE BLOCK AND WALL CONSTRUCTION File d Dec. 7. 1925 Patented Nov. 5, 1929 earanr HARRY L. STRAND, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS TILE BLOCK AND Val ALL CONSTRUCTION Application filed. December This invention relates to terra cotta or hollow tile building blocks used particularly in backings for brick walls or veneers, an object of the invention being to provide an improved hollow tile block and wall construction wherein the tile block may be relatively cheap and light in construction and at the same time having increased supporting strength. vThe invention relates to that type of building block and wall shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 43,889 filed July 15, 1925.

According to the present invention the tile block is constructed with a central or interior supporting web or wall to which, when vertically disposed, vertical stresses in a plurality of'vertical vplanes maybe transmitted directly to the eb, this being accomplished in the present instance by means of ,20 converging web portions, As a result of the improved construction theweight from the floor'beams or joists is directly taken or transmitted by the vertical walls and web of the block, and the weight transmitted .25 through the header courses of brick and the tile filler blocks to the building block is also transmitted directly to the vertically disposed side walls and central supporting web thereof.

In addition to the foregoing the present 130 improved-hollow'tile is constructed so that the necessity, as heretofore of trimming down or shattering the block by workmen, due to ;:variations-in-size on account of variations in merely necessary for "him to turn the block over sothat the other dimension of the square wall will approximate the proper height of the block. Heretofore where the workman V burning, is entirely done away with. The

7, 1925, Serial ir 73 ,524

encountered a low burned tile which projected too high in the wall, it was necessary for him to trim or break off the top of the block in order to bring the tops of all of the blocks on a level. i 7

Other objects of the present invention'will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the ac;- companying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like. reference eharaeters designate corresponding parts in the several views, and wherein: I

.Fi is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating a type of wall construction enibodying my invention. Fig 2 is a e ica section hrough a Wall- 7 F 1g, 3 is a perspective View of one form of my improved building block.

Fig. 1 is a per p c ve v ew of a T sha-ped filler block v l i ig. 5 i a p r pe t ve v ewof a o her form V of fil e .b l k v g- 6 s an and leva ion; illu trating another m of block embo yi g my'in ention, and

Fig. 7 is a ragm ntary perspect ve view illustrating a type of wall construction,

Before explaining in detail the PreSGHt irn provement and of construction thereof, I desire to have it understood that the invention s not limited to the details of construction and arrangement of parts which are illustrated in the acco panying drawings,.since'- the invention is capable of other embodiments, and that the phraseology which I em-. if ploy for the purpose of description and not of limitation I y In the present instance the hollow tile building block A, B, or G is constructedwith a pair of opposite substantially square solid walls 9 and 10, these walls being .-j0ined together at their opposite ends by'means of a pair of solid outer walls 11 and 12. The block in the preferred construction thereof is provided with four chambers or air passages a, 5 Z), c and (Z which are formed by means of interior intersecting webs vor Walls 13 and 14. Referring to Figs. 2, and 7 the central supporting web 14 terminates at opposite ends in a pair of in lined Web portions 15 and 16 joined to the opposite outer walls 11 and 12. The webs 15 and 16 as shown in the drawing extend at oblique angles with relation to each other and form therebetween a V-shaped chamber or air passage closed by means of the walls 11 and 12.

Referring to Fig. 2, in the type of Wall con struction shown therein the brick veneer or facing of the wall may comprise a series of five brick courses 17, the dimension of the square walls 9 and of the block A cor responding substantially to the five brick courses 17. The Wall also comprises a header course of brick 18 which extends in overlapping relation upon the building block A and is supported by the web 16 and one of the vertical walls 9. A filler block 19 is located in rear of the header course 18, and it will be seen thatthe vertical walls 19 and 19 of this filler block are supported by the web portion and the opposite vertical Wall 10 of the block. A floor beam or joist 20 is shown in position upon the building block and is supported by means of the inclined webs 15 and 16 and the wall 10 of the block. From this construction, with the building block and the filler block positioned in the manner shown in Fig. 2, it will be seen that the header course struction in addition provides an air passage between the header course .18 and the course of filler blocks 19. The converging or in clined webs 15 and 16 transmit the stresses inwardly to the central supporting web 14, so

- mitted to the central supporting web 14.

In the type of wall construction shown in Fig. 1 the building block is provided with divided or spaced Wall sections 12a and 12b forming a longitudinal air space-or passage v21. In this construction thecentral web 14 terminates in a pair of outwardly inclined sides of the block lengthwise extending openair passages 21. This construction has the I webs 15 and 16 which are joined to the adjacent longitudinal edges of the wall sections 12 and 12", thus forming at the two opposite advantage of doing away With a solid or con- 'tinuous mortar joint through the wall, and

prevents the transmission of moisture through the Wall. In this type of-wall shown in Fig. 1 a T-shaped filler block 22 is employed,

which comprises a relatively long portion 22 and a shorter portion 22 connected together by a web 22 When the building block and the filler block 22 are in position as illustrated, the opposite Vertical walls 23 and 24 of the longer section of the filler block have a direct vertical bearing upon the wall 10 and the inclined web 15, and the opposite vertical walls 25 and 26 of the smaller section of the filler block have a direct vertical bearing upon the web 16 and the opposite wall 9 of the building block. Thus the weight or stress transmitted through the walls 23 and 26 of the filler block is sustained by the opposite walls 9 and 10 of the building block,-and the weight or stresses transmitted through the intermediate walls 24 and 25 is taken up directly by the converging webs 15 and 16 and thereby transmitted to the single supporting web 14 of the block.

Referring to the construction shown in F ig.

6, it will be seen that the central supporting.

web 14 of the block G is joined at each'end to one of the walls 11 or 12 of the tile block by means of three 'angularly related web portions 28, 29 and 30. It will be seen therefore that a block constructed in this manner will transmit directly to the central web 27 vertical stresses upon the wall 11 or 12 at three points between the walls 9 and 10.

Each of the walls 9 and 10 of the block A,

B or C is approximately square, the dimena...

sions thereof being varied slightly so as to compensate for variations in the burning of the tile. It is a well known fact that in the burning of the tile block some blocks are necessarily placed nearer the fire than others and it therefore follows that some blocks are burned to a greater degree than others result- I ing in the production of so-called low-burned tiles and hard-burned tiles.

The lowburned tile contracts less than the hard-burned tile and therefore the. size thereof will be somewhat greater. Heretofore in the building of burned tile which projected above the level of the other blocks of the course, it was neces-- sary for him to trim or break off the top of the block so as to bring it on a level with the tops of adjacent blocks. This practice re-' quired considerable labor and not only resulted in increasing the cost of the building but also in materially weakening the block and therefore weakening the wall. It was necessary after trimming down and breaking off the top of the block to patch it up'with mortar, which resulted in a large number of defective blocks in the wall. The present improved building block on the other hand eliminates all of these disadvantages. One of the dimensions as 9"-, see Fig. 3, of the square wall 9 may be constructed slightly-"shorter than the normal'or standard dimension for this square wall, and the transverse dimension 9 may be constructed so as tobe slightly longer than the normal or'standard dimension. After burning if the block'turns out a wall, when the workmen encountered a lowto be a low-burned tile, the dimension 9 will closely approximate the correct dimension of the block. If, on the other hand, it is a hardburned tile and has contracted more in the burning process, the dimension 9 will closely approximate the correct or normal dimension. As a result therefore, when the workman encounters a low-burned tile of my invention, if the block, as positioned in Fig. 3 with the edge 9 in a vertical position, projects too high in the wall, it is merely necessary for him to turn the block over so that the edge 9 will extend vertically. Since the dimension 9 is constructed slightly less than the normal dimension, the lesser contraction of the block during burning will cause this dimension to approximate the normal or standard dimension.

According to the present invention the filler block 19 shown in Fig. 5 has a length substantially corresponding to the normal or standard dimension of the square wall 9. Therefore, referring to the wall construction shown in Fig. 7 when the floor beam 20 is in position and interposed between a pair of adjacent tile blocks of a course, one thereof shown at A, the filler block 19 may be utilized to occupy the space between such blocks by turning the filler block into a vertical position. The filler block will be supported by one of the bricks of the header course 18 at the end of the beam 20 and since the filler block has a length substantially the same as the dimensions of the square wall 9 the top of the filler block will be on a level with the adgacent building block irrespective of whether it is a low-burned or a hard-burned tile. The relation of the filler block to the improved tile block A, B or C therefor enables its use in various positions, avoids the necessity of breaking up blocks for fillers or using mortar fillers, and provides a stronger wall.

It is to be understood that by describing herein any particular form, structure, or arrangement, it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. A wall construction comprising a brick facing composed of superimposed bonded face courses of brick, a hollow building block forming a backing for said face courses and having in one position thereof three continuons vertical webs parallel to the face of the wall, one thereof substantially centrally located with respect to the outer faces of the block, a pair of relatively shorter inclined webs diverging from said central web upwardlv and joined to a top wall of the block, a header course of brick supported in part on said block and in part on the face courses, a filler block in rear of the header course and supported on said building block, the latter having a pair of said webs joined to the top wall at points in substantial vertical alinement with a pair of opposite vertical walls of the filler block, and also having another pair of said webs directly supporting the brick header course.

2. A wall construction comprising a brick facing composed of superimposed bonded face courses of brick, a hollow building block forming a backing for said face courses and having in one position thereof a pair of outer vertical webs and an interior vertical web joined to a top wall of the block by a pair of shorter upwardly diverging web portions, a header course of brick supported in part on said block and in part on the face courses, a T-shaped filler block supported on said building block in rear of the header course and comprising a relatively long portion and a shorter portion, each of said portions of the filler block having a pair of vertical webs bearing on one of saidweb portions and on one of said outer vertical webs.

3. In a wall construction of the type having a brick facing composed of superimposed bonded face courses of brick and a header course of brick supported in part on said face courses, a hollow building block forming a backing .for said face courses and in part supporting said header course, and a T-shaped filler block comprising a relatively long portion and a shorter portion joined in the same horizontal plane and having substantially the height of said header course,

said header course extending at threev sides I of said shorter portion of the filler block.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY L. STRAND. 

